Best Bad Paid-For Photo

Thank you Ellen Degeneres!!!

She just posted this on her twitter as her favorite "Bad Paid-For Photo".

I must agree.

Classic.



Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Rock Valley College And On To North Carolina!

Can You say LONG drive?

We're driving from Northern Illinois to North Carolina right now. It wouldn't be so bad... but we've been creeping along in traffic since we left Rockford... over 3 hours now. Oh well.

We played at Rock Valley College this afternoon. The football team and lots of students and teachers came out for the free food, music, and the beginning of their homecoming festivities. The girls that were helping us out with the event were so sweet.

Cara was taking care of us all morning. :)


Some of the awesome peeps that I talked with after the show!



Thanks y'all! You're crisp weather up in Northern Illinois is PERFECT football weather. Have a good game this weekend!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Special Guest

We have a friend heading to our show :) shhh. I'm backstage.

Chunky?

Mmmm. Gas Station food dinner... How did we end up with 2 items that
have the word "Chunky" in them?

Rockford, IL

I knew I would need my hoodie up here... But Come ON! I'm not ready
for the 30's yet. Isn't there supposed to be a transition between hot
and cold?

My Jeep Is a Champion

I feel like ALL... I... have... done... the last four days is... TAXES. But you know what? I mailed them in!!! YAY!!!!

I know. I know. Taxes are due in April. But this is what those of us procrastinators that file an extension have to go through. Every year I get more organized with it. But I am PUMPED about some of my new organization for next year. I am gonna be on top of my game. You watch it! Actually, you don't care. But I am pretty excited none-the-less.

And let me just say. My Jeep Cherokee is a CHAMPION! I've had her for 13 years. :) I had a little glitch back in March, but we have been out on the road so much that I haven't had time to deal with her. And the poor thing has sat under the trees getting SAPPED on for the last 6 months. She looks pretty rough. But tonight? At 2:30am when I NEEDED her to start? SHE DID! It's incredible. James was getting the jumper cables out... we both knew we'd have to jump her to get her going. But no. She's a freakin champion. I love that vehicle. I can't wait to clean her up and take her in for a check-up. Then I can DRIVE her again! YAY :) For now... she'll remain safe in Columbia until we get back from the next week of shows.

I highly recommend Jeep Cherokees.

And doing your taxes in a timely manner.... that would be metal.


Peace. Love. Fiddle.

Save The Orphan.

Many of my good friends are on their way home right now from Africa. They have all been through an emotional roller coaster that is harder than I can imagine. I have feared posting anything online about their trip for their safety. They are in Sierra Leone doing all they can to save children that were brought into their lives over the last few years. But they are in a country that is so poor and desolate that there are few they can trust. They have been accused of kidnapping one moment and then turn around to see hands outstretched, begging them for salvation.

They have purchased a building to serve as an orphanage for almost 100 children. But moving these children from their current facility is much harder than anyone anticipated. The government seems to be little to no help, even though these children are living in horrendous conditions. My friends witnessed a plate of food set in the middle of the room, 2 boys placed in front of it and expected to fight. Who ever wins, gets the food. The little ones have been plugged so that they do not soil their diapers as often. And their poor stomachs are severely backed up.

And I don't even know the half of it. I am going to attach a link so that you can read more about their journey yourself. I will post more as I am assured I can without putting them in danger. They need prayers more than anything right now. But the facility they will provide these children will be life-changing. Now, they just need to be able to move the children there. These kids have never had a bed... no blanket... no mattress... no pillow... no nothing. Not to mention the lack of food.

If you want to help, be assured you will know EXACTLY where your donations will go. You can follow the progress daily. These are just ordinary people like you and me, who stumbled into an extraordinary circumstance. They found themselves in a situation in which they were unable to turn a blind eye. They have children and families of their own. But are working tirelessly to make sure these orphans have a chance at life.

http://www.savetheorphan.blogspot.com/

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Remedy

We went to see The Black Crowes tonight at the Ryman.




Good Lord.

It's amazing when you have such a dedicated fan base that you can play almost two hours and not play any of your biggest songs. But if you like what they do, then you don't have to know ANY of their songs to enjoy the show. They only did 2 tunes from their Greatest Hits record. But that's also part of their charm. That's why they are such a COOL band. And one of the reasons that their fans love them so much. I'm not that cool. And I never will be.

Chris Robinson has such a fantastic voice, I could listen to him sing anything.

It's so inspiring to go to other shows. I got so many great ideas tonight! From songs ideas to merch ideas... not that it takes much for James and me to brainstorm on merch and ways to make the show better. I feel like that's all we ever talk about sometimes. But it's so fun. And right now it feels like so much that we've worked for is coming together. Idea-wise, show-wise, record-wise, visually... it's all starting to click in ways that it only can after being on the road for a couple of years.

I'm pretty excited. And I can't wait to have my own audience like the one that they had tonight. Night... after night... after night.


Peace. Love. Fiddle. And Big Dreams.
~natalie

The Push Down Sink Knob

You know the sinks in some public bathrooms where you have to push the knob instead of turn it... and after about 5-10 seconds the water stops?

I wonder if those faucets achieve anything other than frustration. I assume they are supposed to save water. And maybe they do by discouraging people to wash their hands for as long! But I find that I have to push the knob down a BUNCH of times to get the soap off my hands. And when I have to push it down 1 more final time for just a second or two to get the last little bit off... the water just keeps running after I am done. So really... it achieves nothing. If I could control the water myself, I would have just turned it off when I was done... and it wouldn't still be going!

Apparently the people who made those did NOT watch the Today show the morning where they said to sing "Happy Birthday" to yourself, TWICE, while washing your hands... that's approximately how long you should wash them. :)

Oh well. Just the musings of my trip to Pei Wei tonight. :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

The Chileans Are Coming!!!

Dorky fact about me right now:
We played the University of Akron in Ohio yesterday, and we played this same event last year for them. Last night I wore my event t-shirt from yesterday. Tonight I unintentionally am wearing the t-shirt from this event LAST year.

At our show yesterday, I learned that the flowers in my hair are NOT a good idea when bees are looming! Even though they are fake... they seemed to attract the buzzy little creatures :) I mean, they were hanging around everyone and buzzing around the stage quite a bit, but they definitely liked my hair region... Although.... that's quite a LARGE region... it is kind of hard to miss...

Last year we had to drive OVERNIGHT from a show in Chicago. So this year, the flight and a half of stairs to load up was not NEARLY as daunting as it had seemed last year! :)

However... the rain seemed to follow us yet again to an outdoor event. :( We had a covered stage, so the rain wasn't an issue for us per say, but the poor audience was just getting soaked. I had to call a song that Chris could sing, actually because my cds and t-shirts were getting drenched. I ran and grabbed everything and threw it under the tent for safe-keeping.

Mark and Janice are some of our good friends that have just been incredibly supportive over the years. YOU KNOW they are supportive when they sit under umbrellas for half your show just to watch you play! Thanks, Mark for selling that cd and t-shirt for me ;)


We had some of the most wonderful and inspiring group show up for this show. Viola, was one of them. It was her birthday, and I first saw her burst out from behind the line of students waiting for t-shirts. She was very excitedly running toward the stage because she heard music. It wouldn't have mattered who or what type of music was playing. She began to dance with the most beautiful smile on her face. And she didn't stop until her class had to leave! Happy Birthday Viola! I am so glad you and your friends had such a good time! (Thanks for the pic, Mark!)


Our awesome sound crew - Greg and Tony! They were our sound guys last year, too. :) And they quized me on what my name means. Whew. Good thing I knew! "Born on Christmas Day" (But I wasn't)


We've had a car-full of Chileans following us for a week now!!! Miguel's Dad, 2 of his brothers, and his Dad's wife are all visiting from Chile. And they are getting a FULL experience of life on the road! They came to the Rathskeller in Indy, then took a road trip to Chicago, came to our shows in PA and OH, and now they are headed to Nebraska for a wedding! Ella is going to be a flower girl this weekend :)


Love this life on the road. And happy to be home with my puppy for a few days. We have FIVE DAYS OFF!!! MOST in a LOOOONG time!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Lewis Black & Me Just Hangin...

Dude. I Just Wanted A Taco.

I have such an awesome life. One day we play a show to hundreds of
excited people in a beautiful outdoor Bier Garden. The next.... We are
playing a noon time cafeteria show to 45 confused college students who
just came in to grab a burrito. I have to work a lot harder to get the
college kids into it... Especially when the guy in charge of the show
asks James "Is it ok if I don't introduce you? Cause they don't listen
anyway."
That's rough. BUT the thing is, I know we're doing something right.
Because even though that's the mentality of the people who booked the
show... And it's strange to play a fully electrified set when the room
should at MOST handle an acoustic set... I still sold CDs, t-shirts,
posters, & had excited kids asking questions and wanting pics at the
end of the show. That's the name of the game! 1 fan at a time, ya'll!
I'm just really excited because we have SO much in the works right
now. A lot of times it's 2 steps forward, 1 step back. But I see the
progress. And I have faith it's all gonna pay off!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
Sleepy in Edinboro.

Sent from my iPhone

I Love My Apartment

We stopped by our apartment for a few minutes before we left today, and these were the new additions...

Katie found this in the dumpster! Who would throw away this kind of awesomeness?? It looks like David Lee Roth's pants in "Jump"


These both came from their honeymoon.

I don't even remember what Ben called this instrument... it starts with a "z"


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

More Musings From The Rathskeller

In my sleepy fog early this morning (or REALLY late last night), I left out the best stories from last night's show!!

We had quite the audience, as I am sure you gathered. Any time you have multiple pirates and wenches on your dance floor, you KNOW it's gonna be a good night! I hate I didn't get any pics with them.

My first favorite thing that happened was a very sweet couple that got up to dance during Carl's set. I thought Carl was incredible. He's one of those artists that just bleeds on stage. He did about an hour long acoustic set. He has a very honest and dark tone to his music, which makes it very powerful. One of his songs he keeps saying throughout the lyric "I wish you were a whore". (the girl in the song is so wonderful that he can't get over her... and he wishes she would be a horrible person to make it easier on him). But the lovely couple got up to dance DURING this song. If you weren't listening to the lyric, it was a really pretty song. But they started dancing right when he is repeating "I wish you were a whore" very passionately over and OVER again.

Watching Carl trying to keep his composure was priceless. He began slurring the words together so you couldn't understand him - he was trying not to annunciate. It was just awkward for everyone. :) But they never realized the irony in their to decision to dance to THAT song. Whew.

But THEN! The the first song they danced to in my set was "Fancy." Yet another song about a prostitute. Hmmm.

You can listen to Carl's music... including the infamous "Wish You Were A Whore" on his myspace page. Ben Strano produced his record AND James played drums on his record as well!! :)
Carl Pike

My next favorite was particular dancer during my set. He would come up to the front of the stage - put his foot up on the stage, and then push off. He'd then go to one side of the dance floor and step one foot off to touch the gravel... then kind of spin an saunter over to the other side of the dance floor, touch one foot in the gravel, and then he would start all over back at the front of the stage. It looked like a slow motion, dancing version of a drill in basketball practice or something.

THEN. The ALL TIME BEST. There was one man who was WAY more excited than the rest. He was SO overcome with excitement that he would alternate standing in front of Chris and then Miguel - get as close to them as possible from below the stage, and with all his might, flip them off with BOTH hands. Forcefully. Over. And over. And over again. The great thing was that I *THINK* he was trying to pay us a compliment. It was his way of showing his appreciation. I guess?

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

I <3 The Rathskeller

Dan McMichael, the owner of the Rathskeller, shared his box of concert memoribilia with us that he has been collecting since he was 8-years-old! I was most impressed with the scarf :)


We found some more gems after taking video - an Eric Clapton pic AND this lovely garter worn by Stevie Nicks!
She was singing Landslide, and Dan handed her a rose, and she motioned for him to stay right there... she put her leg up on the monitor, and then took her garter off and handed it to him! SO COOL!


The show was packed and awesome. Our good friend Carl Pike, who grew up in Indy, but lives in Nashville, opened for us. The crowd was so great tonight - bachelorette parties, birthdays, National "Talk Like a Pirate Day" (And there were some amazing pirates and wenches on the dance floor!) Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, and Sugarland were all playing a show in downtown Indy, and we were the afterparty! :) It was so fun! Here's just a few of the awesome people we met tonight! (You can see the beautiful stage behind us in the pictures - it's one of my favorites.)





And here's Carl and his Uncle - who was VERY emphatic on buying a T-shirt!


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Who Does Amazon Think I Am???

Just now I got on Amazon to make an order. I'm not sure how to feel when these are my top 3 suggestions:

"Toilets of The World"


"What's My Pee Telling Me"


And "Farts: A Spotter's Guide"


What does this say about me? And what Amazon thinks of me?

I bought my friend "What's Your Poo Telling You" for his birthday... it was one of those "the second I saw it, I knew it was meant to be" kind of presents. But seriously. Now Amazon thinks I am obsessed with bodily functions.

Thanks, Ben.

Peace. Love. And Smelly Fiddles.
~nat

Thank You Darsey's!!

We are back home in Tennessee. It is hard to believe that we were in my father-in-law's this morning in Seattle!!! James and I flew back to Atlanta, called our favorite Nigerian limo driver (who had JUST bought a brand new Suburban - new from the one he picked us up in last week) and headed out to Norcross to pick up our own Suburban and trailer.

We had parked it at the Darsey's who graciously let us park it in their drive-way while we were on the west coast all week. We were able to leave it there for safe-keeping - even though they had never met us before we showed up on their doorstep at 3am the night before we left!!! They are friends of my mother-in-law, and now friends of ours :) And don't the kids look AWESOME in their Peace, Love, Fiddle Tees?? They were wearing them when we showed up!


(I'm not sure who to credit for the awesome photography skills, but she was one of the neighborhood kids, and she was only about as tall as my waist. I see real photography potential in her future!)

We left not one but TWO permanent marks on the Darsey's pavement right in front of their driveway. We felt horrible, even though they reassured us it was no big deal. The angle of the driveway did NOT like the bottom of the trailer... there was just no avoiding the 3 foot scraping.

James and I were beat on our drive back to Tennessee. We weren't sure how we were gonna make it. But Austin Powers, Arrested Development, and Starbucks helped us get back home. And now we can spend time with our sweet puppy who has been very sick while we were gone. She's back to her "boiled chicken and rice and cottage cheese" diet per the Vets orders. So she's a happy monkey!!! She loves her chicken and rice. :) And I love being home to take care of her. Even if it is only for 1 day. Soon monkey. Soon you'll get to come with us.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Have You Heard?

The ONE thing in which all Americans can agree with the President:


If you don't know anything about what happened... you can follow the link below to watch a video on how Kanye West takes the mic from Taylor Swift WHILE she's giving her acceptance speech.
Kanye interrupts Taylor

A few years ago he had an outburst on live television during Hurricane Katrina. He proclaimed that "George Bush doesn't care about Black People." And now the first black President is calling him a jack ass. Oh Kanye. When will you learn?

I can't imagine how Taylor felt. I heard reports that they had to use her "previously recorded tape" of her live performance because she was crying so hard backstage. I would have been, too! But the one positive thing... even MORE people know who "Taylor Swift" is now!

Peace. Love. Fiddle. And FEMALE COUNTRY SINGERS WINNING VMAs!!!
~natalie

Sleepless in Seattle

Apparently the "Do Not Disturb" sign is arbitrary. Four hotels in a
row a maid has walked in on us while we were sleeping. They usually
knock first, but I never want to speak (and especially yell through a
closed door) before I've woken up a bit because it's not good for my
voice. And none of the times has it woken James up! So I just pretend
like I am asleep and in they walk. Maybe I should start writing a note
that says, "I'm SERIOUS! We are still sleeping if the 'do not disturb
sign is out'. Please don't wake us up!"
We're musicians. We're lucky to get in bed before 4am.

Oh well. It's not really a big deal. But sleep was a rarity this week!

Can I just say that it was amazing to have the day off in Seattle? The
guys flew home this morning but James and I are staying for a couple
of days while we have the chance! Seattle is so gorgeous. Water
everywhere, luscious green trees, and BAM! Ginormous mountains in
clear view in the distance. Oh! And Teriyaki on every corner! :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle. And Sleepless in Seattle.
~nat

Sent from my iPhone

Anybody Want a Thin Mint?

Today was our second show in Washington State. :) And we got paid in girl scout cookies. Anybody want a thin mint? Cause we walked away with a whole case!!!

We were at Naval Station Everett, and the event was called their "Fall Kick-off", and the day couldn't have been more perfect for such an event! It felt like fall. A crisp, cool breeze, a bit overcast, burgers on the grill, an outdoor show. It was perfect. And it didn't rain!! WOO HOOO! That's a win right there. :)

We started off the morning by taking a ferry from Bremerton to Seattle. I had Ivars clam chowder for breakfast :) Normally my stomach wouldn't go for that, but I have been looking forward to Ivars for over a year now!!! MMM... It was just as good as I remember. And the fact that we were riding on a ferry, eating food, hanging out and talking while looking at beautiful scenery... well, that was WAY better than driving!!!

James is very special. So much so that he had his very own tent today. They had huge tents covering the staging area, but the very back end wasn't covered. It would have just left his drum set and him without a cover, so they put an entire tent just over him. Pretty awesome.


This was our whole crew that took care of us!

Julie was our girl!



These dudes were JAMMIN. The younger brother on the right was air drummin like his life depended on it! And they picked the perfect spot for a picture. I think the steps were a GREAT idea guys!



And this whole family sat in the front the WHOLE concert!!! They were the first ones to rush the stage for Devil!

And here's a little something for farm boy:
Allene the beautiful girl at the end was born in a gas station. They joked that they couldn't call her "Ethenol" ;) So her name is "Allene" LOVE IT! (Unless they were pulling my leg. Which is totally possible. But I'm pretty sure they were serious)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~Natalie

Naval Base Kitsap

I will ALWAYS remember today. We played our first show in Washington State, James' dad got to come, and afterwards we toured a HUGE Navy Ship that is leaving port tomorrow. Here's a little video right before we went on board.



Our Tour guides!



You know something crazy? The Ship we were touring was the John C Stennis. And in July we stayed in a room on a base that had his picture up on the wall with no explanation. It cracked us up because at the time, we didn't know who it was... and it was a REALLY LARGE picure of an older man staring at us! But he is considered "The Father of the Navy"
Here's a link to the blog I had written before I knew who he was. The next day Daddy set me straight.
http://nataliestovall.blogspot.com/2009/07/our-protector.html


Up on deck where the jets land and take off!!! It's 3 football fields long.


Here's an arial view of the ship we are on. When I flew with my father-in-law last summer, we flew over Bremerton and I actually saw these ships from the air. Who knew I would be performing right in front of them within a year!!!


The entire crew that was working at our concert today!


The show was great. The tour of the ship was amazing. The people were gracious and giving. And I am tuckered out.

Here's just a sample of some more of the amazing people we met today!








Peace. Love. Fiddle. And God Bless the Men and Women at Kitsap!
~natalie

Brother Willie And The Market Crew

We're in Seattle right now!!!! It's hard to believe that we were in San Diego this morning... We played a show at the Naval Base San Diego last night, and were in California for less than 24 hours. Today, we flew into Seattle, picked up the rental, had breakfast with my father-in-law, went back to pick up the boys (they were on a different flight), and then went to Teriyaki!!! Anyone who has been to Seattle would have a hard time missing the fact that it is jam-packed with teriyaki restaurants. James didn't realize what an incredible thing this was until he left Seattle and realized that no one else has amazing tryaki restaurants at every corner. Believe me, we've scoured Boston, New York, Nashville... Nashville FINALLY opened one (in Brentwood) and it was amazing for a while. But then it changed owners and the sauce just isn't the same...

So then we took the guys down to Pike Place Market. We stumbled across the most incredible a capella group. James and Chris got hooked because Miguel and I wanted to go into the original Starbucks to get a drink. Big Willie and The Market Crew were right in front of Starbucks. They had the guys mesmerized - which is hard to do!!! But these guys were the real deal. I got a quick video - the main guy singing isn't even Big Willie (you can see Willie sitting with his cane in the back ground.) But James and Chris went on and on about how heartfelt and intense it was to watch Big Willie sing. I loved this guy, too. Willie was on his break though, so I couldn't capture any video...



Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Hurry Up And Play Michael Jackson!

This is the blog I tried to post the night of the crazy thunderstorm!!! It's the first time I've had internet since then... I had to come all the way to California to get it ;)

Today I was contractually obligated to "sing my way into the hearts of the students". Seriously. That's what the contract said.

At both shows today, we were the entertainment during the big club/organization sign-ups for campus.  The first one was Miami Dade Kendall and it was a giant party in the cafeteria! We had a blast at the show. Everyone was dancing and jumping around and made it seem like a night-time stadium show :)

The second show was at Palm Beach Community College in Lake Worth, FL. It was a little crazy because our first show ended at 1:15, we got packed up and out of there within an hour. It took about an hour and a half to get to the next campus. They wanted us to start at 4:00, but we didn't get there until 3:45 going as fast as we could! They knew there was no way for us to get there on time and it even stated in the contract that we could start at 4 or as soon as we got there :)  I felt bad because our sound guy, Milton, wasn't actually a sound guy. He was the tech guy on campus that was the "most able" to run the sound. Don't get me wrong, he did a great job. But there were a lot of problems getting rid of feedback, getting the vocals and instruments balanced so you could hear everything, etc. Those things are difficult for ANY PROFESSIONAL sound man! I mean, when you're in a hurry like we were today, the event coordinator is yelling at you to get started, and you don't even have everything plugged in yet... it is REALLY stressful. I was VERY impressed with Milton though. He worked with us every step of the way.

The event coordinator kept requesting that we hurry up and do Michael Jackson. I LOVE me some Michael, and if you've seen our show, you know that we do a bit as part of our finale. But even after we'd played some, we got more requests for MJ! I'm a little blonde fiddle player, people!!! I can rock out with the best of them... but it's hard to pull off Michael Jackson well with a 3 piece band, big blonde curly hair and a fiddle. But they asked for encores! So I guess we did alright ;)

We capped off the night at a Brazilian Restaurant (I'm not even going to try to butcher the name for you). We found one that was playing the Chile vs. Brazil soccer game!!! Miguel hadn' gotten to watch one in forever. It was so fun, but we were the ONLY ones in the place cheering for Chile. Had to be a little careful on that one ;)

This sweet guy had $10 he was supposed to spend on getting his hair cut... but he bought a cd instead! Nice.

More awesome peeps!







Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Thank you Edress and Dean!!

Whew. I thought I was worn out last night! It's about 3:15am & we just
arrived in Atlanta. My mother-in-law has some amazing friends, Edress
and Dean who live in Atlanta and are letting us park our Suburban here
while we are on the west coast!!! They insisted we come in and hang
out in their basement, which they have all set up with pillows and
blankets. The shuttle comes at 5:30, but the have a couple of hour to
lay down is amazing!!!!
One day... We'll have bunks in our vehicle and a driver and overnight
drives and schedules won't be as difficult. But having the help and
kindness of wonderful people sure does make this much easier on us
while we have to do it ourselves!!

Peace. Love. And Worn Out Fiddles.
nat

Sent from my iPhone

Done!